White House Boasts Positive Affordable Care Act Numbers

On Thursday, the White House released a series of numbers pointing to the effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act as well as projected numbers and a cost analysis for those who joined the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Based on numbers provided by the Congressional Budget Office along with the Joint Committee on Taxation, the charts illustrate that premiums for those who entered the Marketplace will be lower than expected. Emboldened with the social media hashtag #ACAWorks, the message is clear that the administration wants to promote the economic and societal benefits of the sweeping healthcare law.

A sampling of the numbers reveal:

8 million people signed up for private insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace. For states that have Federally-Facilitated Marketplaces, 35 percent of those who signed up are under 35 years old and 28 percent are between 18 and 34 years old, virtually the same youth percentage that signed up in Massachusetts in their first year of health reform.

3 million young adults gained coverage thanks to the Affordable Care Act by being able to stay on their parents’ plan.

5.7 million people will be uninsured in 2016 because 24 States have not expanded Medicaid.

Photo: CBO, Joint Committee of Taxation

On the cost side, the Act is helping to slow down the rising costs of health care and signals a trend that will continue to lean toward the positive.

A quick look at the CBO’s figures from the fact sheet are below:

“Health care costs are growing at the slowest level on record: Since the law passed, real per capita healthcare spending is estimated to have grown at the lowest rate on record for any three-year period and less than one-third the long-term historical average stretching back to 1960. This slower growth in spending is reflected in Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.”

The Affordable Care Act ties neatly with President Barack Obama’s plans to bolster the sagging economic stature of middle class families. As it stands, around 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions will not be denied health coverage as a result nor charged higher premiums.

Around 60 million Americans have increased access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits and other federal protections. Seniors also benefited, with 8 million from the group saving $10 billion in prescription drug bills as a collective after the Act did away with Medicare’s “donut hole” clause.